Charlie is going to be a big sister!!
Charlie is convinced its a girl. Most conversations go something like this:
Mom- "do you want a baby brother or sister?"
Charlie- "I want a sister!!"
Mom- "what should we name her?"
Charlie- "Hercules!!!"
Just the other day we were having this same convo at Panera. It continued from the above, to:
Mom- "what if its a boy?"
Charlie- "I dont want a brother!"
Mom- "but what if it is?"
Charlie- "I will be so PISSED! I will push him down"
That was the first time I have ever heard her use the p-i-s-s-e-d word, and also a first on the violent pushing. It was surprising because she used it like a PRO. Like she used it 100x before. And why is it so hard not to laugh when kids use naughty words?? Grandma Jo kept a straight face the entire time. She always says "if you just ignore it, they won't use it again".... Gma's are so smart. Makes me wonder if me and my siblings had potty mouths too?? Wouldn't surprise me. I bet Ben and Jes cussed like a sailors. But not me, I was the good child. ;)
I am not sure whose name choice is worse, Charlie's pick of Hercules Dickens, or Chuck's pick of Ca$h Money Dickens? And yes, it will be spelled with a dollar sign instead of an S. All I can picture is a baby with a grill... which then brings the Nelly song to mind.
"Smile fo me daddy, what you lookin' at?
Let me see ya grill, let you see my, what?
Ya, ya grill ya, ya, ya grill"
August 25th is the date we find out the gender. I think I am more excited to see Charlie's reaction more than anything. I better have the video camera ready, because the reaction may be an AFV winner!
My gut feeling is boy, just because this pregnancy is totally different from my first.
For one, I was never sick with Charlie. Well, maybe once. I remember almost barfing my banana up in an Old Navy at 3am during Black Friday shopping. But that is about it, nothing actually came up. (the experience did scar me for life. Never again will I got BF shopping. preggo or not!) With this pregnancy, I have been sick morning, noon, and night. So sick that I have actually dropped 6lbs! I can't even think about swallowing a vitamin. Everything smells like sh!t, like literal poop. I can't sleep. Its hard staying awake at work and while driving in the car. And I am already making several pee trips at night.
One thing that has not changed is my platelet issue. As a matter of fact, I am in St Marys Infusion Center now getting my platelet fix (its the only time I have time to blog! what else would I do for 7 hours in this chair?). For those that do not know the full story, its your lucky day!
I can actually thank Grandma Jo for discovering the issue. I was in my 8th month of pregnancy with Charlotte. We were walking around Botanical Gardens on Mothers Day when she asked me how I had got this huge bruise on my back. I had no idea what she was talking about, but it was a big one- like basketball size, and you would think there would be a pretty awesome story to go with a bruise that size- like saving a baby from a runaway train! So, I went to the doctor the next day (mom's orders!), it was right around closing time. They told me they would get back to me within the next couple of days with my blood work results- no biggie. I was not expecting a call at 7am the next morning from my doctors home line. She told me to VERY carefully make my way to the ER. I was freaking out! I had no idea what was going on. Come to find out my platelets were at 4K!! Normal range is 150-200K. So I was at a high risk of bleeding to death if I were to fall or get into any kind of accident.
So there I was stuck in the hospital for several days, with one of those house arrest bracelets that would sound if I tried getting up. They released me with an appointment to see a high risk doctor and a hematologist the following week. However the day of my appointments, Charlie decided she was ready to come right then, an entire month early. THUNDER CATS A GO! At that time, my platelets were only at 20K.... 30K short for an epidural. I will fast forward through all pain and screaming and just say that it was a very scary delivery, but everything thing and everyone one turned out fine- except my voice which took a couple of days to get back!
About 2 months after my delivery, I was still struggling to keep my platelets up and going crazy from massive amounts of steroids- ROID RAGE!!. So my hematologist recommended a splenectomy. By removing my spleen, he hoped that my antibodies could no longer attack my platelets. And this worked for about 3 1/2 years. I had super platelets. Over 350K!! But then last fall I relapsed back down to 20K. The next option was a series of 4 infusions called Rituxan. I was told that this would be a gradual increase. And it was. I was just reaching 100K when we found out we were preggo. And then I dropped back down. boo!
So here I am now, getting platelets pumped into me. No clue how long this will last or how high my count will get, but I am trying to stay optimistic.... Shall we start taking bets on how many times I will be here until January?
On a positive note, I am so incredibly excited about being preggo with my sister- Jessica and my bestie- Sarah. Charlie gets to be the ring leader of the rug-rats! :)
Oh! By the way. The above picture is from Charlie's 4th Birthday. Can you believe I have a 4 year old??
Yes, she had a Birthday. And no, I did not blog about it. Did I mention that I have been really tired and sick all time? So suck it! :)
